Working with my editor, Janet Angelo of IndieGo Publishing, has been quite an experience, especially on my latest book. Her experience of the publishing industry has been invaluable in shaping both the book and the writing. An author often stands so close to the story that you literally can't see the gaps and the inconsistencies even after multiple overhauls. Of course, the other problem is that you often get 'carried away' with the subject and rush off in sometimes unnecessary directions which serve only to annoy a reader. This is where your editor pulls you up short and sticks a finger into the holes.
Of course you know your story. Of course you know the characters, but your editor knows what can be left to the reader to figure out, what needs to be 'said' and what is just a distraction. Of course you'll want to keep your 'voice' and a good editor knows that. So the first step for the editor is to point out where the gaps are, where the unnecessary bits are, and invite you, the author, to consider additions, or retractions as appropriate. It often surprises me that taking something out isn't always as simple as 'highlight; hit delete', simply because it may mean adjustments to the preceding passage(s) or changes 'down the line' in the book. Working with my editor, Janet Angelo of IndieGo Publishing LLC, has taught me that you have to keep a dialogue going on all manner of things if the book is to end up being everything it can be. While the initial drafting of the story MS is a sometimes solitary effort, once you hand it to a publisher it becomes a 'team' effort, and, as with any team effort there will be a need to listen and consider all the criticisms and suggestions from all sides.
Limehouse Boys has been just such an effort to produce. It touches on some sensitive issues, so it needed to do so in a manner that neither condoned, nor suggested any form of promotion. This is where an experienced editor is an enormous asset, able to suggest ways of dealing with issues in just the right 'neutral' tone so they are not 'lost' and yet do not become the central issue.
The experience of working with Janet on this book, and the previous three I have published through her company has been an education in itself. Now Limehouse Boys has been launched into the ether of the eBook and as a paperback, I can but hope that readers will agree that the book is a rivetting read!
Books published with IndieGo Publishing LLC:
Harry Heron; Midshipman's Journey
and in the scifi genre ...